


The man out of time's wardrobe

by MelindaCoulson4



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Chaotic Good, F/M, Humor, Just the Guys Bonding Over Clothes, all around good time, bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25826575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelindaCoulson4/pseuds/MelindaCoulson4
Summary: Daniel needs clothes. The male members of the team help him out. Chaos ensues. A moment between 7x07 and 7x08
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Deke Shaw, Deke Shaw & Daniel Sousa, Phil Coulson & Deke Shaw, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 20
Kudos: 144





	The man out of time's wardrobe

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot get enough of the team's chaotic energy. Daniel is confused by almost everything they say. The men aboard the zephyr are bonding.

Freshly showered, Daniel Sousa stared up at the giant wardrobe stock aboard the zephyr. He was wearing someone's ratty old shield t-shirt and matching sweatpants that were both much too tight for him. Agent Simmons had sent him here with the encouragement to choose whatever he liked.  
  
He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't this. It had taken him nearly twenty minutes to figure out how to work the contraption. Still he had to marvel that with a simple click of a button one could flip through racks upon racks of clothing. _Was everything in the future so easy?_ Because he could very much get used to this. Once he learned how to work the technology, of course.  
  
The selection was vast. Every color he could ever imagine seemed to be here. There was only one thing that really bothered him.  
  
Someone was coming down the hall. He could hear a feint beat of music. He stepped out to look. Deke was bobbing his head and punching the air with his fists as he walked. "Hey, man," Daniel greeted. But Deke continued on as if he hadn't heard him. Something strange and orange was on Deke's head. The music seemed to be coming from it. Daniel waved, attempting to get Deke's attention.  
  
Deke flinched and his eyes bulged. The apparatus on his head slid down to his neck. "You can't just sneak up on people!"  
  
Daniel suppressed the urge to defend himself. Arguing with this guy was like running in a circle. "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry. I do have a question for you though."  
  
Deke had on a matching sweatshirt and sweatpants. Fire engine red with stripes down each side. It was very bright and distracting. "Don't really have time to spare here. Gotta get my workouts in where I can. The grind never stops, you know?" He said while jumping from one foot to the other.  
  
"Sure." Daniel wasn't sure what any of that meant, but he didn't want to get into another fight with the guy. "Where are your vests?"  
  
Deke put the brakes on the jumping and clicked a button on the square device at his hip. The music stopped. "Our _what_ now?"  
  
Daniel gestured to his torso. "Vests. To complete a three piece suit."  
  
"Nah nah, man you're with us now. Suits with vests are unnecessary in the future." Deke laughed. "You clearly need help and you've definitely come to the right person." Without another word, Deke went to the closet. Daniel had no choice but to follow. Deke clicked through the selection with rapid taps of his thumb. The shirts became a rainbow blur as they spun by. "In my time...well people wore rags that they'd stolen off dead people or that they'd traded to sell out their friends to the blues so let's just say you're lucky to be in the early part of the 2000's."  
  
" _The blues?_ " Daniel whispered.  
  
"Yea, this alien kree race of-"  
  
"What's going on, guys?" A friendly voice that Daniel had come to know as Agent Coulson asked. He had on a black suit and a navy colored tie.  
  
"Oh, now this is what I'm talking about. C-man has a classic agent style without being a total nerd," Deke said.  
  
"Um thanks. I think?" Coulson said.  
  
Deke pointed a thumb at Daniel. "This square wants to wear a vest."  
  
"Square?" He stepped up into Deke's personal space.  
  
Deke froze, watching him. "Yea... _buddy_." His head bobbed back and forth. "It's a....fond nickname."  
  
"Okay let's move on." Coulson diffused the situation with ease. "So you want to wear a vest, but that's just not the style anymore. Why don't we start with the basics?" Coulson gestured to a space just off to the side of the closet opening. "Agent Sousa, step over here, please."  
  
Coulson stepped forward and pulled what appeared to be a simple short-sleeved t-shirt off the rack. "Here we have a classic slate grey, magazine slash male model-esque shirt." The shirt was handed over. "No need to try that on. We've seen you in white already and that one's close enough."  
  
Deke nodded. "Definitely keep."  
  
The two huddled together as Daniel watched nearby. Deke began clicking through the options again. "Let's see. Hmmm. Eye color." His thumb let up and he plucked another shirt off the rack. "You've got the arms for it." Deke tossed it over to him. This one was a long sleeved button up in a deep blue shade.  
  
Daniel waited.  
  
"Unfortunately we don't have a gadget that dresses you so you have to do that yourself," Coulson said.  
  
"What about suspenders? Or a tie, at least?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Don't need 'em. Be a free man. It's a fantastic feeling. I don't know why anyone would ever do drugs when they could just walk outside and smell the freedom," Deke shared.  
  
Coulson's eyes slanted over at Deke and he slightly shook his head.  
  
"I feel naked," Daniel said, getting back to the point of the matter.  
  
"Rule number one: no tie," Deke said.  
  
Daniel looked to Coulson who had a tie.  
  
"The ladies will have an easier time seeing your chest this way," Deke said as he came forward uninvited and popped the top button from his shirt.  
  
"The ladies? There aren't many to chose from around here...." Daisy had caught his eye. She was beautiful and a fighter. The strength that she'd shown had impressed him. He hoped she was available.  
  
Deke nodded in agreement. "Yea Yo-Yo is as good as locked in with Mack. And don't even think about Nana. She is off limits to everyone except for Bobo." Deke crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
 _Bobo, wasn't that a clown?_ "Who?" Daniel asked.  
  
"And May...well...." Deke trailed off with a laugh.  
  
"What's wrong with May?" Coulson jumped at Deke, eyes pinched.  
  
"Nothing, she's great. Doesn't look a day over thirty. But that is clearly your territory, buddy." Deke gave Coulson a friendly pat on the shoulder.  
  
Coulson seemed to think it over. "You're right. It is," he said to Deke then turned to Daniel. "So don't mess with her," Coulson warned.  
  
Daniel didn't have plans to, she was a nice looking woman, but definitely nowhere near his radar. "No competition from me." Daniel smiled uneasily.  
  
Coulson looked back at him. "I'm serious she'll whoop your ass back to 1955."  
  
Deke nodded along. "She will beat the shit out of you, yea." He said it with such a casual air to it that unnerved Daniel.  
  
Coulson went back to the task at hand, presenting a random shirt to show off. "This is some twentieth century garb. It also works in any decade really, but on the zephyr we like to keep it as close to 2020 as possible. It makes things feel normal."  
  
"Right....normal." Daniel nodded. As he had a conversation with the LMD and the man that looked like a firetruck.  
  
Another person entered the fray. "What's this?" It was Director Mackenzie. Mack. He had some type of thin square thing in his hand.  
  
Deke ran at him. "Yes, Mack Daddy! Our most superior fashion icon. The man can pull off any look."  
  
Mack pulled away. "Don't think I didn't just hear you say Mack Daddy between all those compliments."  
  
"Sorry. It slipped. But what do you think? How's Sousa look?" Deke asked, clearly looking for approval like a much too enthusiastic child greeting their very tall and muscular father.  
  
"Fine. Look, I don't really have time for this I've got-"  
  
"Oh come on. Let loose a bit. Remember how it felt to be at that bar in the 80's. Just us guys. Man-to-man. Danny boy here needs your help," Deke said.  
  
Mack eyed Daniel. He was difficult to read. Mack looked back at Deke and sighed. "Alright, but only for a minute."  
  
"Great. So here's what we've picked out so far." Deke pointed at the shirts that Daniel had in his hands.  
  
Stroking his chin, Mack nodded at the shirts that had already been chosen. "All good... but I'll do you one better." He took his time spinning the wardrobe until finally he pulled out another button up. The color was a dark forest type of green. "Try it on."  
  
Daniel did.  
  
The trio stared at him, approval shining in their eyes.   
  
" _Woah_ ," Deke said in awe.  
  
"You were right, D. He is a fashion god," Coulson said, impressed by Mack's taste.  
  
"Now that's what I'm talking about." Mack smiled proudly.  
  
"Oh, excuse me, I did not realize there was a meeting going on here," Enoch said, while joining them hesitantly. "Pardon my interruption, but I have come to restock my wardrobe collection. It seems that the fibers from Earth sheep cannot withstand the wear and tear of my movements as well as the fur off of the abodemina from Chronica-2 can."  
  
No one seemed to understand what Enoch was talking about and for that Daniel was grateful.  
  
"Okay, but before you do that Sousa needs your help," Deke said.  
  
"Agent Sousa, what could you need from me?" Enoch almost seemed to smile.  
  
Deke was practically bouncing in excitement. Daniel could read the word vomit that was about to ensure. "He's looking for opinions on outfits."  
  
This was getting ridiculous. Next all the women would be coming in one by one to have their say too. "No," Daniel denied. "I came here for a few things and it turned into _this_."  
  
"Enoch. We're helping with shirts. Any opinions you might have?" Coulson asked.  
  
"I have seen styles from 162 different planets in approximately seventeen star systems, spanning countless decades. Therefore, I alone posses a unique expertise in the area of fashion that no one else on the zephyr could, if I do say so myself. No offense to the rest of you."  
  
"None taken. By all means, do your best," Coulson said as an invitation.  
  
Enoch closed the distance between himself and Daniel. Without warning, a red beam of light shot out from Enoch's eyes.  
  
" _What the hell is that?_ " Daniel flinched back. In his experience anything that ever looked like that usually meant bad news.  
  
"It is a scanner so that I may properly assist."  
  
Coulson rushed forward. "Enoch, a word of advice. Give a warning anytime a laser is about to shoot from your eyeballs. It's a little jarring to humans. Too much of a 'the Day the Earth Stood Still' vibe."  
  
"I will take that into consideration, Agent Coulson." Enoch nodded thoughtfully. "Now, Agent Sousa, please stay still this time. The red laser will shoot from my eyeballs onto your entire body. It will not harm you."  
  
Daniel composed himself and tried not to wince. Then nodded.  
  
The laser did its work. " _Hmmm_. Yes. I have a proposal that is sure to surprise you all." Enoch cycled through the clothes. It took less than ten seconds as he seemed to know exactly where to find what he had in mind.  
  
Mack shook his head at the sight of the shirt. "No way, man. Come on he's not a jack-o-lantern."  
  
"Looks more like the color of orange sherbet to me," Deke said.  
  
"Given the pigments of his hair, skin tone, and eye color the shirt will compliment all of those features. I am quite certain it will blow the female's socks off, as one would say."  
  
"No one would say that, but let's give the shirt a try," Coulson chimed in.  
  
Deke leaned forward. "I wish it was a scratch and sniff. I love oranges. They're just so fresh."  
  
"Is food _all_ you think about?" Mack raised an eyebrow and his face scrunched up. "If you want an orange, go get one."  
  
"Yea I would if someone hadn't insisted on making freshly squeezed orange juice with the limited supply that we had. I hope the two of you enjoyed your honeymoon breakfast in bed."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry that as we've been hurtling through space-time that I haven't set aside a moment to go to the farmer's market for you," Mack said.  
  
Daniel jumped in before it could escalate any further. "Look, I appreciate all of this. I really do, but I should get back." He tossed out a thumb towards....anywhere but this room.  
  
"To watching Daisy sleep?" Coulson asked.  
  
Daniel's gaze snapped to his. There was something knowing in Coulson's eyes. Like he could see right through him.  
  
Feeling a blush to his cheeks, Daniel swallowed hard. "To make sure she rests."  
  
"May is with her. You won't ever hear her admit it but she needs to be with Daisy right now." There was no room for argument in Coulson's tone.  
  
"Okay," Daniel said. He got the picture that Coulson, May, and Daisy were all involved in some weird family entanglement that he didn't want to get in the middle of. Instead of leaving, Daniel changed into the shirt that Enoch had picked out.  
  
"Not bad," Mack commented once the shirt was on.  
  
"It's the hair," Coulson said. "Like Enoch said."  
  
"Now onto accessories," Deke jumped in, thrusting an oddly shaped gun into Daniel's hands. "This is an icer. Compliments of Bobo and Nana."  
  
"Okay _enough_ ," Daniel said loudly. All Deke did was go on and on about those two. " _Who the hell are Bobo and Nana?_ "  
  
" _Who_ _are they?_ " Deke asked aloud, affronted. He guffawed. "Well they're just the most important-"  
  
"They're his grandparents. Agent Simmons and Agent Fitz," Mack said simply.  
  
"Dubbed Fitzsimmons," Coulson added.  
  
"Leopold Fitz is my best friend," Enoch said.  
  
Agent Simmons. That was the obviously young woman that Deke seemed to be attached to. No way a woman that looked like that could be old enough to have a grandchild and an adult one at that. They had to be pulling his leg. "Wait....the young Agent Simmons currently on this aircraft...that you're always hanging around...is _your grandmother?_ That makes no sense," Daniel said to Deke.  
  
"You're a man from 1955 and _you_ tell _me_ that _my family_ makes no sense?" He barked out a laugh. " _Sure, Dan_."  
  
"It's the time travel," Coulson explained helpfully.  
  
He knew of their shenanigans in the past but.... "So you've all been to the future _too?_ "  
  
"Approximately two zero nine one in Earth years," Enoch said.  
  
He thought about everything he'd seen. The cell phones. The computers and gadgets that looked like they'd been pulled straight from a sci-fi flick. "I can't even imagine what Earth looked like then."  
  
Deke's face lost all humor. "It looked like a jigsaw puzzle with three fourths of the pieces missing and the rest all scattered with nothing holding them together, but the gravitational pull of the sun."  
  
Mack nodded. "It was cracked into pieces." His hands gestured outwards, imitating an explosion.   
  
"Like an egg," Coulson said, shrugging as if to say 'what can you do?'.  
  
"Nothing to worry about, Agent Sousa. The extinction level event timeline has been circumvented," Enoch added.  
  
"Thanks to Tremors."  
  
 _Another person?_ He felt like he needed a yearbook or a scrapbook with all these oddly named people. "Who the hell is _Tremors_?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Daisy. She launched Graviton into space. She saved the world." Deke said, like it was an everyday occurrence.  
  
"Daisy saved the world?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Oh yea. She's that bad ass." Coulson smiled proudly.  
  
"That's why we all have faith that when it comes down to it, she'll do it again this time," Mack said.  
  
"With our help of course," Coulson began. "But we can't contend with the sheer willpower that she has. She can make it through anything including the hyperbaric chamber. She's done it before."  
  
Daniel's eyebrows jumped. "She has?"  
  
"She has," Coulson confirmed. "You can ask her about it when she wakes up if you're interested. It's not my story to tell."  
  
Daniel got the feeling the Coulson was testing him. "Okay. I will."  
  
"Good. I'm glad." Coulson continued watching him, face unreadable.  
  
"Make sure you wear the blue shirt when you do it," Deke said.  
  
"Right," Daniel said.  
  
So he did.

_//end//_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Thoughts? :)


End file.
